Sunday, February 20, 2005

Smoking

1. Why do people smoke when they know it is bad for their health?

Everyone knows smoking is bad for their health because it is displayed on every cigarette packet. Also a lot of smokers have diseases caused by smoking. However, they still smoke because they have an addiction to nicotine. They also believe cigarettes help them to relax and to work better. But they are concerned about the possible side affects of medication and nicotine patches.

2. What makes people take up smoking in the first place?

Most smokers tend to start smoking through simple curiosity when they are teenagers and they think smoking reduces their weight, stress and looks dandy. They don’t think about the future consequences that’s why they often forget that continuous smoking has a bad effect on smokers. Also they want to experiment or just try smoking. They want to know how it feels and tastes. It may be just for fun and they might not continue smoking. Frequently people respond to peer pressure-if their friends are doing something they don’t want to be different.

3. What do you think of tobacco companies making money out of the sale of cigarettes?

I think it is unreasonable because smoking does a lot of harm to every smoker. Tobacco companies are selling cigarettes that make people die later on. They never care about human life. Smoking causes serious diseases e.g. Lung Cancer, Asthma etc. So smokers almost lose their good health or have a shorter life than non-smokers. So I think tobacco companies must bear the responsibility for that.

4. What do think about governments collecting revenue from cigarette production?

I think it is a reasonable act of governments. Cigarettes are an enjoyable habit for most people. Smoking includes direct smoking and passive smoking so people lose their good health from indulging in something they enjoy. That’s why governments must levy a heavier tax to differentiate cigarettes from other items. They must be much more concerned about promotion of people’s health using revenue; like they do with pensions, health, jobs, education, pharmaceuticals, defence etc.